


Countdown

by Little_Octopus



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-03-21 00:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13729455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Octopus/pseuds/Little_Octopus
Summary: Everyone has a clock that counts down to the moment they meet their soulmate.





	1. Chapter 1

Countdown  
Arthur and Alfred

"What does your clock say?" Matthew asked for what had to be the hundredth time that day.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I swear you ask this every other minute." Though he pretended to be irritated by Matthew's prodding, Arthur still felt a thrill when he raised his wrist. “Two days, four hours, fifty minutes, thirty seconds.”

The clock was actually a tattoo. From the moment of birth, on the inside of everyone's left wrist, the tattoo-like clock counted down to when they would meet their soulmate. It was a basic format of years: months: days: hours: minutes: seconds. Once at 00:00:00:00:00:00, a person will meet their soulmate and their clock will change to the date. There were few exceptions scientists, who are researching how and why this phenomenon happens, have discovered. Aromantic and asexual people still had clocks, the statistic is that the clock reaches zero when they discover that they do not want a life partner. Therefore, their clocks are sometimes sped up or have an impossible date. A person's actions may also affect the clock. If someone whose clock read 00:04:15:07:32 decided to move, they could increase their time. Another, rather unfortunate incident, is the statistic of a person's unexpected death. If a person were to die, their soulmate’s clock would stop. There have been cases of these partnerless people coming together, but their clocks remain at the time their soulmate passed away.

There have been no cases of someone not loving their soulmate. Somehow, this is where scientists are left to scratch their heads, everyone is content with their partners. But how could this clock possibly know who someone is going to love? Many ask the question, but few care to actually know the answer. They're just happy to finally be with the person they were destined for.

Matthew squealed and shook Arthur. "It's so close! Mine still says I have three months!"

Arthur smiled and nudged Matthew off him. He was excited to meet his soulmate, but he was still scared. He was a freshman in college and was just barely starting his life. What if his soulmate didn't approve? What if his soulmate had already graduated college and didn't have time to worry about Arthur? Or what if they were younger and wasn't ready to deal with college? Or maybe they were a more dominant type and wanted Arthur to be a stay-at-home husband? He had never heard of a couple having issues like that, but it was still on his mind.

When Arthur had told Matthew his fears, his friend had gaped in horror. Matthew was a romantic. He found everything about the countdown clocks. He even kept notes about who it could be. They didn't make any sense when Arthur had read them. They went along the lines of: In three months, he'll be graduating. Then he would have a job in a couple of weeks, so he'll be at work every day. The days lands on a Tuesday and the hours says it would be around noon, so he'll either be at work or lunch. That means, his soulmate was either a co-worker or a person near his place of work if he is at lunch at that time. Arthur found it rather absurd to keep such track of the clocks, but that never stopped Matthew. "Of course they wouldn't disapprove! You guys are meant to be!" Matthew had shouted.

Now, taking the bus on their way to campus, Arthur watched his clock tick. He wondered what they would look like. Would they be male or female? Blonde? Brunette? Tall? Fat? Would they have light skin or dark skin? Maybe they only had one eye, or one leg? Arthur really didn't care what they looked like, it was just frustrating not knowing. So he pushed his mind to their personality. He hoped they were nice. Maybe a little loud, since he was usually quiet. He hoped they were the type to hold doors open and help old ladies carry their groceries outside. He wondered if they were good in bed. Or if they liked it rough. Maybe with some handcuffs-

“Arthur? Are you okay?” Matthew asked. “Your face is red.”

“Uh, yes. I'm fine,” Arthur stood as the boss stopped. “Ready to get to class?”

Matthew gave Arthur a look that said he knew something was up, but followed Arthur off the bus without another word Arthur let Matthew do the talking as they walked across campus. He allowed his mind to wander again, listening to Matthew enough to nod along.

Maybe his soulmate would be the same as his homebody, reading personality. Or perhaps the exact opposite who liked to be loud and the center of attention. Either way, Arthur was ready to love them.

•

Arthur glanced at his phone as it lit up. Matthew. He chuckled and set down his pencil. Matthew was more excited than Arthur, it seemed.

"Hello?"

"Time!”

With another laugh, Arthur raised his wrist. "Twelve hours, thirty-two minutes, four seconds."

"Okay, that puts it roughly around ten-thirty tomorrow morning. What are you doing?" Matthew was talking quickly, he tended to do that when he was excited. It was a little weird considering how quiet he usually was.

"I don't have class or work. I don't know. Maybe walking to the coffee shop to get the homework that you keep interrupting done," Arthur said. He kept his tone light, though he really did need to finish this assignment. However, Matthew wasn't the only one to blame, Arthur had been getting butterflies for the past hour. 

"I know! I'm sorry! It's just so romantic!" Matthew cried.

"You're almost there, Mattie. What's your time?" Arthur asked. He knew it would please Matthew to flaunt how much longer he had.

"Three months, three days, four minutes, forty-three seconds." Matthew said cheerfully. Knowing Arthur was trying to change the subject, Matthew moved it promptly back to him. "Do you have an outfit picked out?"

"Mathew!" Arthur laughed and stood from his desk. He knew that homework for the rest of the night would be a lost cause, Matthew wouldn't give him a chance to get anything done. Though, Matthew's excitement was getting to him, he had butterflies. "I will not dress up! I don't want my soulmate to have unwanted expectations."

"But you'll look cute, right?" Matthew prodded.

Arthur chuckled and sat on his bed. "I'll try."

"Just don't be scared, okay?" Matthew said gently.

"Okay, Matthew. And you don't be so impatient. It goes by fast. Before you know it you'll be in the arms of your soulmate." Arthur glanced back down at his wrist. It had become almost like a habit.

"Twelve hours, thirty minutes, twenty-four seconds," Arthur whispered.

"Call me an hour before. And after you meet them," Matthew said. "Get some beauty sleep! And send a picture of your outfit!"

"You sound like it's your day. Whose clock ends tomorrow?" Arthur teased. He laid back and ran a hand through his hair.

"You're my first friend to meet their soulmate! This is amazing!"

Arthur smiled and closed his eyes. "I suppose."

"Now go to sleep! We don't want you grumpy! Night!" Matthew hung up.

"Crazy." Arthur rolled out of bed and plugged his phone in. He looked at his closet. Maybe he should dress up. But what if his soulmate didn't? Then he would look ridiculous. He sighed. His normal clothes would work. He flicked the light off and crawled into bed.

Good thing tattoos didn't glow in the dark.

•

Usually the first thing Arthur did in the morning was curse it. However, this morning, he looked at his clock. Two hours, five minutes, seven seconds. He rubbed his face and sent a quick text to Matthew, alerting him of the time. He got a reply, seconds later, full of smiley faces, hearts and exclamation points. Arthur smiled fondly at his phone before setting it down. He stood, stretched, then went to the bathroom to shower.

When he finished, he applied lotion, plucked his rather unusually large eyebrows (not that it did much good), swiped on deodorant, paused, did another swipe. He brushed his teeth, rubbed in his acne cream, and combed his hair.

He hardly spent this much time in the bathroom in the mornings, but he was nervous. And now that he was looking at his somewhat scrawny, pale chest, he felt nauseous.

He glanced at his clock and felt another roll in his stomach. He could just stay home, right? But these clocks had a way of being right, no matter what the person decided to do.

Arthur spent the next minute staring at his wrist, having a slight freak out. His heart was in his throat and his legs suddenly felt like jelly.

He finally shook himself out of his stupor and went to his room. He wanted to call Matthew after he was dressed, but by how slow he was going, his soul mate was going to have to be in his room.

He sorted through his shirts, having a small crisis. He wasn't sure what counted as his 'normal clothes', at the moment and didn't know what to wear. Should he put some effort into it or would that be overbearing? But if he wore just a t-shirt, that would look slobbish. Eventually, he found himself torn between a black Beatles shirt and a plain green sweater vest that made his eyes pop. He chewed his lip and decided to toss a coin.

Heads Beatles, tails sweater vest. Arthur fished out a quarter from his pile of change on the dresser and tossed it into the air. He missed catching it, but it landed heads-up by his feet.

Beatles shirt it is. With another look at his clock, one hour, twenty-three minutes, ten seconds, Arthur finally got dressed.

He ate a breakfast of toast and eggs and skimmed through the social media on his phone without really seeing it. He did notice a lack of soulmate posts, though. Seemed like no one else was meeting their soulmate today. He had a thought to post something, but he really didn't want his phone blowing up all day. Besides, it was nobody's business.

He cleaned up his mess and was about to leave when he remembered Matthew. He made a detour to the bathroom and took a picture of himself in the mirror to send to Matthew. His pale blond hair, of course, was a mess. Though he thought it made him look lazy, Matthew complimented him on it often. He said it gave him a “rugged bad-boy-don't-care-what-you-think-of-me-look.” His green eyes were actually bright with the black shirt. He had kept his earring studs in. After sending the picture to Matthew, along with the time - fifty-four minutes, forty-three seconds- Arthur left the house with his laptop bag across his chest.

He walked the short distance to the cafe downtown. He liked to do his homework there, and they had good tea and yummy pastries. He wasn't sure if he would be able to eat any, but he sure could use a drink. He tried not to look at his clock, but it was hard not to when he was texting Matthew, who kept sending words of encouragement. When his clock read exactly thirty minutes, Arthur sent Matthew an update, to which Matthew replied with a text full of hearts.

He ordered, and, white cup in hand, he sat in the corner and opened his laptop. He could get quite a lot done in twenty-one minutes and eleven seconds. If he could concentrate.

He was able to get through half his assignment when he noticed he had only five minutes and thirteen seconds remaining. He kept the laptop open, but didn't type or read anything. Heis fingers were hovering above the keys as his eyes roamed over the edge of his screen.

Two minutes, thirty seconds.

Arthur's hands were shaking. The cafe wasn't crowded, he had a straight view of the door. He couldn't have chosen a better place to scope out a soulmate.

One minute exactly.

He saved his work and shut down his laptop. How awkward it would be to be just sitting there waiting, but he couldn't think of anything else to do.

Twenty seconds.

Arthur put his laptop away and slung his bag over his shoulder. He stood and turned toward the door.

Ten seconds.

He took a few steps to the door when it opened in front of him.

Five.

An old man walked by him. Arthur blinked. That couldn't be right. There was someone behind him.

Four.

He was tall, blond and had a strange cowlick bouncing with each step he took.

Three.

He had beautiful blue eyes.

Two.

He was smiling.

One.

He was looking at his wrist.

Arthur stopped in front of the boy. He raised his wrist. His clock now read the date.

He brought his eyes up to his soulmate’s.

"You're beautiful,” the boy said, seeming unsure what else to say.

Arthur glanced at the boy's exposed wrist. His clock also read the date.

"You're not so bad yourself," Arthur said easily, though his heart was thumping painfully.

"I'm Alfred." He stuck out his hand.

Arthur smiled and gripped his hand tightly. "I'm Arthur. I'm glad to have met you."

•

Author's note: *writes fic based on Pinterest post*


	2. Chapter 2

Countdown  
Matthew and Francis

Matthew smiled stupidly at himself as he watched his clock tick away. Twelve hours, seven minutes, fifty-three seconds. He had estimated that he would meet his soulmate on his way to school in the morning.

Arthur had switched roles with Matthew. Now that he found Alfred, Arthur was always asking Matthew about his clock. Alfred was also there, asking twice as often as Arthur. The two were always together; holding hands and kissing. Arthur had most definitely not abandoned him, but their conversations usually ended with Arthur talking about Alfred. Which was okay, Arthur was just in for an earful when Matthew met his soulmate.

Matthew heard his phone announce he got a text. He rolled over his pile of neglected homework and saw that it was Arthur asking for his time. Matthew smiled and typed the numbers quickly into his phone. Arthur had taken on probing Matthew about his time much like Matthew had done to Arthur.

Eleven hours, fifty-nine minutes, twenty-four seconds.

Instead of replying to Matthew, Arthur called him. "How do you feel?" was Arthur's greeting. Matthew could hear someone rustling around on Arthur's end. Alfred must be with him.

"Excited. Out of breath. Dizzy." Matthew said giddily.

Arthur laughed. "Where do you think you'll see them?”

"I'll meet them walking tomorrow." Matthew glanced at his wrist and smiled as the seconds ticked by.

"That's great!" Alfred shouted into the phone. Matthew sighed and chuckled. While Arthur was quiet and stubborn, Alfred was loud and easy-going. They were a strange pair.

"Get off, Alfred!" Matthew heard the two tussle before Arthur's voice came back. "What do you plan on wearing?" he asked.

"I don't know. Something flattering, but not over the top." Matthew rolled on his stomach and rested his chin in his hand.

Arthur chuckled. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're good at this sort of thing."

"Thank you." Matthew tried not to, but he looked at his wrist as he spoke. Eleven hours, forty-eight minutes, twenty seconds.

"I'm going to let you go, Mattie," Arthur said. "Al is getting restless."

Matthew sighed into the phone. "I can't wait until I have that."

Arthur hummed back. Matthew could imagine the blond Brit smiling contently at Alfred. "It really is amazing."

"Night, Arthur," Matthew said.

"Good night. Call me before you go out." Arthur hung up and Matthew was left with the silent ticking of his clock.

•

Matthew sat and glared at his closet. He had absolutely nothing to wear. Well, he had clothes, but nothing for his special day. He sighed and played with the ends of his hair.

After a glance at his clock, one hour, four minutes, twenty-six seconds, he decided on white pants and a blue shirt. He spent way longer than he usually did on his hair and took careful examination of his teeth. He scrubbed his glasses and his face clean, then, he finally felt presentable.

With half an hour to go, Matthew set out en route to his school. He tried not to run. Running would not make time go faster. Instead, he counted the steps he took. When that ended up with him counting down his clock, he decided to call Arthur.

"Good morning,” Matthew could hear the smile in Arthur's voice.

"Hey,” Matthew said breathlessly. His heartbeat was steadily increasing with each second.

"How much longer?" Arthur chuckled.

"Five minutes, ten seconds." Matthew grinned and glanced around the busy street. His soulmate was in this crowd somewhere. He stopped to wait for a stop light.

"You nervous?" Arthur asked.

"A little." Matthew stood on his tip toes. There was a crowd to get through the sidewalk, and since he didn't even know what to look for, he lowered himself again. When the light turned green, he shuffled forward, but the light turned red before he could get into the street and he was left on the curb. At least he was first.

"Just relax and you'll do fine." Arthur said. "What's your time?"

"One minute, thirty seconds." Matthew breathed. "I'm going to meet them at this crosswalk."

"I'll let you go then, love! Call me when you can." Arthur was giggling uncontrollably on the other end. It was nice to see Mathew finally getting the one thing he's been waiting for.

"Alright." Matthew hung up his phone and slipped it into his pocket.

The light turned thirty seconds later. He crossed the road in another thirty seconds. He glanced around as he reached the other side. No one stood out to him. As he turned to look over his shoulder, in case his soulmate was behind him, Matthew caught sight of a tall man with pale blond hair sprinting to cross the street.

His red eyes locked on Matthew's blues as he took his steps into the road. "You!" The man shouted.

Matthew felt a grin begin to spread. However, his smile faded as his soulmate disappeared underneath a yellow cab.

He heard screams around him. He felt people pushing him to get to the man on the ground. Matthew gasped for air before he ran forward as well. That was his soulmate!

Matthew elbowed his way to the man. He dropped to his knees and pulled the bleeding person into his lap. His white pants were instantly stained. Matthew saw that the man's wrist read 00:00. Glancing at his own, Matthew saw the same thing. Did his soulmate really die the moment they met? He had never seen a clock not turn into the date.

"Help!" He shouted. "He's my soulmate! Help me!" Matthew felt the tears leak from his eyes. He pressed his hand against the dark red spot in the man's silver-blond hair.

He heard sirens two long minutes later. The paramedics crowded him. They asked him questions Matthew couldn't answer.

"What's his name?"

"I don't know."

"Does he have any medical conditions?"

"I don't know."

There was only question Matthew could answer: “How do you know him?"

"He's my soulmate!" Matthew cried.

The paramedics glanced at each other before nodding. "Okay, you can stay with him," one said, "but we have to get him to the hospital."

Matthew sobbed. "O-okay." He let the two lift Gilbert from his lap and into the ambulance.

"May I ride beside him?" Matthew said.

"Hurry, get in." The paramedic held the door open for Matthew.

The blond climbed in quickly and grabbed his soulmate's hand.

•

His name was Gilbert. He was twenty. One year older than Matthew. His wallet showed that he had a credit card, three dollars cash, and a picture of a young blond boy. He would survive, if he woke from his medically induced coma. He had hit his head and cracked a few ribs. Road rash covered his back and half his face. Matthew still thought he was handsome.

Matthew had been visiting Gilbert every other day for the past month. Arthur met up with him when he would leave and they would go get take-out or watch a movie. Alfred never came.

Gilbert's nurse was very kind. Her name was Elizabeta. She was giddy about her clock and often talked about it to Matthew. Though he felt a twang of pain in his heart, he was happy that love was still in the world. His clock, however, remained at 00:00.

"Hello, Mattie," Elizabeta greeted when Matthew walked into the the hospital room that day.

"Hey. How is he?" Matthew placed his most recent vase of flowers by the window. He wasn't sure what Gilbert liked, but who didn't like flowers?

"Breathing is normal, heart rate is better, everything's else has increased greatly,” Elizabeta explained.

Matthew smiled and sat in the chair beside Gilbert's bed. "Does that mean he'll wake up soon?"

"The doctor is thinking about taking him out of his coma," Elizabeta smiled.

"I can't wait to meet him,” Matthew said. He ran his fingers through Gilbert's soft hair.

"I'm sure his brother is excited for him to wake,” she said.

Gilbert's brother, Ludwig, and his soulmate would visit almost every day. Elizabeta even made friends with them. Matthew was too shy to talk to them.

Matthew decided to change the subject. "What does your clock say?" he asked.

Elizabeta blushed and looked at her wrist. "Three hours, fourteen minutes and seven seconds."

"That means you'll meet them here!" Matthew grinned. He knew she worked long hours and was glad she was meeting her soulmate at work. Probably another doctor or nurse or someone who would understand the hospital work life.

A buzzer went off somewhere down the hall. Elizabeta smiled sadly and turned to the door. "I have to get that. I'll be back around lunchtime to check on him, and I'll bring the doctor."

Matthew felt his heart soar. "Thank you,” he said.

The nurse left the room and Matthew was left with his soulmate and the beeping of the machines.

•

Elizabeta kept looking at her clock while the doctor looked over Gilbert. Matthew guessed that it was getting pretty close. Weird she would be in this room. Maybe someone will come rushing in asking for her or something.

The doctor smiled at Matthew. "Okay. It's time."

Matthew leaped from his chair, his heart was his throat and his hands were sweating. "O-okay."

"Bring in his brother,” the doctor said to Elizabeta.

She quickly retrieved Gilbert's brother and his husband. They stood at the foot of the bed and Matthew clutched Gilbert's hand. He tried to ignore the way Ludwig narrowed his eyes.

The doctor fiddled with a few things attached to Gilbert. “Is everyone ready? It shouldn't be too long.”

Elizabeta held her wrist up to Matthew and grinned. Ten seconds. The excitement in the room was stifling.

Then, Gilbert began to move. He groaned and turned his head away from Matthew.

"Gilbert,” the doctor said. "Do you know who you are?"

He opened his eyes and squinted in the light. "Gilbert Beilschmidt.”

“Good, good. Can you tell me how old you are?” The doctor pulled a small flashlight from his breast pocket and shone it into each of Gilbert's eyes.

“Twenty. Can I have some water?”

Elizabeta scooped a spoonful of ice chips into his mouth while the doctor continued his questions. “Do you know the man at the foot of the bed?” 

“Ludwig, he’s my brother. That's Feliciano. Where am I?" Gilbert's eyes roamed the room, they flew briefly over Matthew, confusion darkening his features, then they and landed on Elizabeta.

She scrunched her eyebrows and looked at her clock, then looked to Gilbert. "How is that possible? Matthew, your clock stopped when Gilbert was hit, right?”

Matthew released Gilbert's hand and stared at him. "Yes, we saw each other then the taxi came. His clock had stopped too.” Matthew swallowed and took a shaky step back. “Do you know who I am?” he asked Gilbert.

Gilbert closed his eyes and scratched his head. "Before everything went black, I saw this pair of eyes. Blue, almost violet." He opened his eyes and gazed into Matthew's own. "But my clock,” he paused and lifted his wrist. “What's today?"

Elizabeta took Gilbert's arm and placed her wrist beside his. Their dates matched.

Matthew took another step from the bed. His clock remained at 00:00. He felt tears swim in his eyes. "What?" he asked.

"Gilbert must be a different person,” Elizabeta said, grasping at anything that might make sense. "He was gone for so long, he got a redo."

"What about me?" Matthew said, his heart pounding. "Is there no one?" He knew it sounded incredibly selfish, but he had spent so long waiting for Gilbert just to have him wake up and be soulmates with someone else. It wasn't fair.

"Mattie." Elizabeta moved to Matthew but he stepped back.

"I have to go." Matthew turned and left the room.

He knew he was acting childish, but everyone else's clock worked! His was the only one that did this. He had never seen anything like what his clock was doing. He was heartbroken and confused and he just had to get out.

Matthew found himself outside the hospital. A few benches were around the garden beds and he managed to make it to one. He perched his elbows on his knees, buried his face in his hands, and cried. The one thing he had been dreaming of for years, and it had been ripped out from under him.

He didn't know how long he sat there, but his tears did stop. He didn't bother to go see Gilbert or Elizabeta. He didn't want to. He began to wipe his face and sniff, getting ready to leave.

"What on earth is the matter?" A gentle voice washed over Matthew. He looked up to find a blue handkerchief being held out to him and a handsome doctor with long blond hair and a soft smile.

Matthew sniffed and shook his head. "Nothing. I'm fine,” he said. He turned his face away from the doctor and the hanky.

"Nonsense! If everything was fine, you wouldn't be sitting here crying." The man sat beside Matthew and offered his handkerchief again.

With a soft sigh, Matthew took the soft cloth from the man and wiped his face. "I'm sorry, I'm usually not like this," he said shyly.

"You're fine, but if you don't mind me asking, why are you crying?"

"I don't even know your name," Matthew said. He didn't want to be rude, but he really didn't want to spill his guts to this guy.

"Francis Bonnefoy, pediatrician." The man held out his hand and as his white doctor coat sleeve was pulled up, Matthew noticed the tattoo on his wrist was also 00:00.

Matthew blinked and grabbed Francis's arm. He stared at the tattoo to make sure he read it correctly. "How did this happen?" he asked.

"Nuh-uh-uh. I don't even know your name,” Francis said, smirking.

"I'm sorry,” Matthew said, he let go of Francis's hand, "I'm Matthew Williams."

"Nice to meet you, Matthew.” Francis smiled and leaned back in his seat. "So, you want to know why my clock is broken?"

"Yes. Mine did the same thing and I don't know why," Matthew said. He flashed his wrist before he folded his hands in his lap and looked at his shoes.

Francis hummed and leaned his elbows on his knees. "Mine broke before I came here. I was living in France at the time. It's been almost five years now."

Matthew raised his eyes to Francis, listening closely. There had to be something that matched between them for their clocks to do this.

"I was in college and it was a pretty normal day, the only difference was that another school was there for a debate tournament. I was walking through the halls when my clock reached ten seconds. I began to look around, trying to find somebody else looking around,” he paused and Matthew could see Francis tense up. “That's when the gunman ran into the school. He made a bunch of us line up and I saw this girl. Her hair was brown, she had it tied with red ribbons and she wore a blue dress. She looked at her clock, then at me and my clock had reached zero. Then, she got shot in the head. The cops came and got control of the shooter and I was able to go to her. I didn't know her name until the news reported it, but her clock read the date and mine remained at zero."

Matthew, unthinkingly, grabbed Francis's hand, who looked at him, obviously confused. "I'm sorry,” Matthew said. He squeezed before taking his hand back.

"I imagine that a similar thing has happened to you?" Francis asked. He didn't move his hand, keeping it out in the open for Matthew to grab again if need be.

"Kind of. He got hit by a car, but he just woke up in there and it changed from the zeroes to the date. Just like the nurse's."

Francis took Matthew's hand this time. "I'm sorry."

"No. It's fine. This would happen to me. I've been looking forward to the moment I would meet my soulmate and everything gets messed up,” Matthew said. His eyes had begun to hurt again.

"I feel, that it all depends on how you look at it,” Francis said. "I'm sure that girl never deserve ld to die, but maybe she wasn't meant to be mine."

"Of course she was! The clocks don't lie! My friend met his and they are so in love!" Matthew said. The clocks always worked, that's what they had been taught from a young age, that's what he had witnessed with his own parents and Arthur and every other person who met their soulmate.

"If the clocks don't lie, why did yours stay at zero, when his changed?" Francis asked calmly.

Matthew opened his mouth to fight back, but when nothing came to his mind, he closed it. Why did his clock not work? Francis squeezed his hand and Matthew slowly raised his eyes.

"I don't know why my clock didn't change. I don't know why yours didn't and why the others did. I do know that soulmate's wrists match. And for so long, I didn't have a match to mine." Francis smiled and tucked a lock of Matthew's hair behind his ear. "And now I think I do."

Matthew didn't say anything. He wanted to believe this charming man saying that were meant to be, but how did he know it wasn't a matter of pity? What if it was a ruse to hurt him? But the clocks never lie.

"I know this must sound weird, but, Matthew, I researched the zero thing and it's almost unheard of. No one knows why they get counted down to a dead mate, and when they do, they don't know what to do,” Francis said. Matthew examined his handsome face and found his heart beating fast. "But I think I discovered what it meant."

"What does it mean?" Matthew whispered. He found himself moving forward unconsciously. They were both hurt and sad and they needed comfort. Maybe this comfort could change into love. Matthew believed so.

"I think it means that a different soulmate had been chosen for us,” Francis said, “if you think such a thing is possible?”

Matthew felt a tad lighter as he thought it through. It did make sense, and if the zero clock is almost unheard of, what were the chances of them finding each other on this day? After a moment of deep breathing, Matthew nodded. “I do.”


End file.
